‎"It's good to get acquainted with God now so that at the end of time you won't be embarrassed in His presence"--A.W. Tozer

26 December 2008

"Purpose" = "Compromise"

Rick Warren, pastor of the Church at Laodicea Saddleback Church, in an effort to show homosexuals that he could be just as tolerant of their sin as the next person, visited a gay thrift store in West Hollywood--all in the name of "Purpose" and "Unity" you know. You can see him trying to strike a "tolerant" pose here, with his arm around the openly gay owner of the store.

We got this pic, taken yesterday at Out of the Closet thrift store. That's Warren on the right (naturally), his arm around Erol Sarabi, who is openly gay. Warren, who supports the ban on gay marriage which has not sat real well with some Obama supporters, bought 8 to 10 books, two of which were his own (that doesn't help with his Amazon ranking). Warren told Sarabi not to believe everything he reads, that he does a lot for AIDS research and was happy that Out of the Closet does free AIDS testing.

"Two of which were his own?" Are you kidding me?? He's happy they do free AIDS testing? Is he happy they are living in outright sin also?

Meanwhile, in another attempt to soften his anti-homosexual stance, Warren pulled a message from his website. John Aravosis of Americablog noticed that Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church website on Friday said it explicitly bans gay "unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle" to become members. That message has since been removed. But one thing that hasn’t been permanently removed but "rather repurposed for clarity" is the site’s Q & A section addressing homosexuality. Kristin Cole, the press representative for the Saddleback Church purportedly e-mailed the gay website queerty saying:

I wanted to make sure you were aware that the Q & A addressing homosexuality on the Saddleback Church Web site has not been permanently removed, but rather repurposed for clarity. I know your readers have noticed the change. Click here and play the recorded answer to question 22, "What does the Bible say homosexuality?"

Is Rick Warren ashamed of taking--and maintaining--a biblical stance against homosexuality? It seems as though the quote from Martin Luther posted by Desert Pastor (over at DefCon) should be passed along to Mr. Warren.

I have to wonder something: how did the media get wind of this? How did TMZ find out that Mr. Purpose was at this thrift store? Paparazzi? I doubt it. How many Hollywood photogs are following Rick Warren around, cataloging his every move? No doubt The P.E.A.C.E. Pastor had someone put out the word he was visiting this place so they could do a photo-op of this event. It's obvious the store owner didn't approach Warren about having this picture taken, let alone forward it to the media.

You know, it wouldn't seem so fishy if the Purpose Driven Pope hadn't just been chosen to do the invocation at the inauguration for The Obamanation with all the kerfluffle that surrounded it. But the timing, the chutzpah, the obvious ham-handed attempt to look "tolerant" to those who are very intolerant of Christians--all in the name of "Purpose"--This was one big PR stunt meant to drive up book sales--Pastor Warren's favorite "Purpose."